Ridgefield comes up short in CIAC playoffs

RIDGEFIELD - At least the Ridgefield High softball team didn't get cheated at the plate during its first state tournament appearance in four years.

Despite a dozen hits, several loud outs and a valiant comeback attempt, the 14th-ranked
Tigers
fell to No. 19 Norwalk 4-3 in a Class LL first-round game Tuesday.
Ridgefield, which finishes its best season since 2002 with a 14-8 record and the promise of a bright future, was doomed by one bad inning. The Bears (14-9) scored all of their runs in the third with the help of two errors.
Sophomore
Ashley Higgins
gave up only two earned runs and five hits (two of which were bunts), but suffered yet another frustrating loss, which was reminiscent of a 1-0 setback to
Brien McMahon
on May 10 and a 2-1 defeat to Trumbull in the conference quarterfinals last week.
"She didn't deserve this," Ridgefield coach

Angelo Formisano
said.
When these FCIAC members met on April 19, the Tigers mustered just two hits against Norwalk junior
Lauren Coppola
in a 2-1 regular-season win.
Trailing 4-0 in this rematch, they swung their bats confidently and aggressively, chipping away for solo runs in the third, fifth and sixth.
"We don't hang our heads," said senior third baseman
Ashley Kovack
, whose two-out RBI single in the fifth followed
Mel Andrea
's triple and trimmed the deficit to 4-2. "I thought we were going to win it."
Andrea, capping a sensational freshman campaign, went 3-for-4 with two extra base hits.
In the sixth, a single by
Jamie Mantegazza
(3-for-3), a ground-out and a run-scoring hit by Higgins (2-for-3) brought Ridgefield within 4-3 in the sixth.
Norwalk's stellar outfield defense played a big role in the outcome.
In the Tigers' final at-bat,

Aimee Moffat
and
Ashley Langlois
smacked consecutive line drives to center and right. Both looked like extra-base hits; both were speared. And speedy left fielder
Nicole DiBlasio
made back-to-back running catches going to her left to end the third.
"They were just catching everything, making the plays," Kovack said.
"We have a lot of speed in our outfield and when we play in an open field like that (without a fence) you're really able to see the speed come out," said Bears coach
Maureen Ireland
. "Our defense did a great job. That's the only way we could've won with 12 hits (for them) against five."
Along with the great catches, Norwalk's crisp defense included a great relay from DiBlasio to shortstop

Libby Tiani
to catcher
Stephanie Kurose
, which nailed Higgins at the plate trying to score on Moffat's triple. Langlois' RBI single plated Moffat before DiBlasio ran down lasers off the bats of Andrea and Kovack.
The Bears also turned a 1-2-3 double play with the bases loaded.
Norwalk's uprising began with a leadoff walk and a pair of bunt singles to load the bases.
Christine Powers
hit a sacrifice fly, and an errant relay throw put runners on second and third. Both scored on an infield throwing error. Stephanie Kurose's double to deep center put the visitors ahead 4-0.
"That error cost us the game," Formisano said. "Unfortunately, I can't sugar coat it."
Getting to this game was four years in the making for Ridgefield's three seniors - shortstop Mantegazza, third baseman Kovack and pitcher
Laura Kelley
.
"It was well worth the wait," Mantegazza said. "It was really high intensity. These one-run games, they got us, but that's what state is. It should never be a blow-out; you're well-matched.
"Would'a, could'a, should'a."
Said Kovack: "It was my dream to finally play in the states. I loved every minute of it. It just (stinks) that it's my last game."